A number of teachers have called on the State Examinations Commission (SEC) to be lenient when marking what they claim was an unreasonably hard maths paper.

The Project Maths Higher Level Paper 1, which was taken by around 400 Leaving Certificate students last month, was heavily criticised by some schools for its difficulty, the Irish Independent reports.

One teacher who complained to the SEC, Noel McManamly, deputy principal of Colaiste Choilm in Tullamore, County Offaly, stated it would test the skills of even the most experienced educators.

He added it has done "immeasurable damage to the self-esteem of students" who sat the paper.

Project Maths is on trial in 24 schools and is intended to deepen pupils' understanding of the subject. This was the first year in which examinations in the subject were held.

However, teachers stated the final paper bore little or no resemblance to the sample tests distributed prior to the exam.

Irish students' performance in maths subjects may be of concern to many teachers, as it was reported last month by the Irish Times that this year could have seen fewer students sitting the higher papers than ever before.

Written by Donal Walsh

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